A Hungarian student was pinned to the ground by Maltese police after he was the victim of verbal abuse by a Maltese woman while in the queue at the Valletta bus terminus,

The man was trying to put some order to the chaos that engulfed the launch of the tallinja card system, with people queuing up in their hundreds to be able to use the bus service. Many of them ended up paying for their tickets in spite of having a legitimate card which they could not use because it could not be topped up.

Daboma Jack, a chemical engineer from Hungary, was in the queue too and after about an hour, with no sign of the queue making a move, he tried to convince people to form a single file. Most of the frustrated crowd cooperated with him and attempted a semblance of order but a Maltese woman went up to Mr Jack and started shouting in his face: “Go back to your country! Go back to your country!” She then spat in his face twice.

The woman later approached Mr Jack and slapped him in his face. At this point Mr Jack called at the police to take action on what he said was a racist attack.

The police however immediately pinned him down and handcuffed him as the woman ran away.

Eyewitnesses told the police that Mr Jack was innocent and that he was not the one who initiated the disorder.

The Ministry for Home Affairs and National Security said that, with reference to the case that happened today related to the Hungarian student at the Valletta terminus, Minister Carmelo Abela has instructed the Commissioner of Police to start an internal investigation with immediate effect.

 

PN condemnts racial abuse incident

The Nationalist Party this evening strongly condemned the abuse on the Hungarian man "who ended up a victim of members of the public as and, allegedly also of police officers. The PN said it will never accept race and skin colour to be used as a pretext to violence or discrimination.

It urged the Police Commissioner to conclude the investigation as soon as possible so that the whole truth can come out and steps are taken against those guilty of racial abuse.

   AD chairperson, Prof. Arnold Cassola, said: "The arrest of an innocent Hungarian man who had been slapped and spat at before, and who was just helping out in the chaos caused by our disorganized transport service, is cause of serious concern for the majority of Maltese peace loving and democratic people.  There is no place for police officers who arrest people on the basis of their skin color. We look forward to justice being meted out as soon as possible".

Photos - Screen grabs from TVM news